Joe Dunne said that Cambridge United’s trialists will give the team a boost - and added that their recruitment drive may not be finished yet.

Cody McDonald and Franck Moussa arrived at Clare College Sports Ground on Thursday, with the U’s desperate to bolster their numbers, particularly up front, after an injury-hit start to the season.

And Dunne added, if possible, they could add another.

“Two new players coming into any changing room gives you a boost,” the U’s head coach said.

“It puts your place at risk and if you’re at risk of losing something, you should fight tooth and nail to keep it.

“And that’s not just football, that’s anything that you could possibly lose.

“So when you get to a transfer window and you make four or five signings, there’s a reason why that happens. There’s a reason why you bring new players to the club and sometimes that can be the easiest message that a club can send to anyone.

“Don’t get comfortable, get busy. Don’t let anyone take your place and prove (why you should have it), work hard.

“Hopefully those two (will join), who knows it may be more. We may not be finished, if we can get another one, we’ll get another one. We need a bit of help.”

The duo’s fitness is currently being assessed, with both starting the season without a club.

Moussa is a player that Dunne has come into contact with in the past during his time at Colchester United, while he believes that McDonald’s experience could be “important” to the young U’s squad.

“Having been youth team manager at Colchester he (Moussa) was in the opposition at Southend, so I knew him as a young player growing up,” he said.

“It’s someone who has had a good career in the game, as has Maccers.

“He’s a proving goal scoerer at the levels that he’s played at.

“That level of experience that you can add to a younger group is important.”

And Dunne said that he wants to get to the position where you can judge the strength of his side from the options on the bench.

"We’ve touched on the bench last week," he said.

"Sometimes you’re only as strong as your bench and in this league there’s been some incredibly strong benches, and incredibly strong substitutions, more than I think I’ve known in the last four years that I’ve been in this league and thats the level we want to get to.

"If we can judge our team by the strength of our bench, I think we’ll be in a healthier postiion."

And while McDonald's and Moussa's trail period will be slightly disrupted due to to the U’s midweek match at Swindon, Dunne said that the decision on the players would be taken in a “short time rather than a long time”.